Animal abuse: Raising rescued pets

SPCA Volunteer Gary Hurley (63) from Mangere East, with his three legged dog lucy, a Maltese bichon cross. Photo / Janna Dixon

A one-eyed cat and a three-legged dog have been rescued and raised by Gary Hurley.

For four years Mr Hurley has been a foster carer for kittens that are too sick or too small to stay with the SPCA.

He takes care of the kittens until they are healthy and weigh about 800 grams and can be cared for at the SPCA Adoption Centre.

Mr Hurley came across Josie the one-eyed cat in March last year.

A woman brought the four-month-old kitten to a vet clinic to be de-sexed, and the vet found a serious untreated infection in the kitten's right eye.

The woman abandoned the kitten at the clinic, whose only option was to remove the eye.

The woman was charged with ill-treating the kitten and sentenced to 60 hours community work and ordered to pay reparations of $2,250.

Mr Hurley said when the kitten came to him it was clear she had suffered.

"It must have been in a lot of pain.

"It's quite a skittery cat because it had been through quite a hard time and it's not very good with people."

Mr Hurley had been calling the kitten One-Eyed Joe, but decided to name it Josie when he knew he was going to keep it.

He adopted a dog that had been run-over by a car about April this year. It's owners surrendered it to the SPCA when they wouldn't pay for an operation to remove the dog's leg.

The maltese-bichon frise cross named Lucy was being fostered by an SPCA volunteer who recommended Mr Hurley adopt it.

"Josie and her are quite good friends now," he said.

Mr Hurley said volunteering for the SPCA gave him a lot of joy.

"I enjoy the fostering of the cats.

"I'm a mad animal lover, and I particularly like the kittens."